Are you suffering from bloating, a swollen and painful stomach, having to pee more often or finding it difficult to eat normally?All these can be symptoms of the menopause but if you have them on a daily basis they may be the sign of something more serious - ovarian cancer.
This disease, often called the ‘silent killer’, is difficult to diagnose but new guidelines published yesterday from NICE are addressing this.They suggest a simple blood test through your GP.The test looks for the level of a protein CA125 in your blood.Even though the test is not 100% conclusive, it’s a good first step and if found positive, will be followed up by an ultrasound examination and further specialist treatment.
Time is the most important factor here – if you catch the disease at the early stages, 90% of women survive after treatment.But this survival rate declines as the disease progresses.So if you do have any of these symptoms, on a daily basis, then please go and see your doctor and ask for this test.As a recovering ovarian cancer mother on Woman’s Hour said yesterday.‘Women tend to put their bodies on the back burner and put off going to their doctor but early diagnosis is the key to successfully beating this disease.’
If you want to listen to the excellent Woman’s Hour interview, click on the link below – it’s the first item of the show:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b010mryq
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